upcoming shows!

Spring in Austin comes early, and we've certainly been enjoying it here. But I'm going to chase spring around the east coast with some wonderful gigs during the first part of April. Washington DC, NYC, NJ and a couple stops in Tennessee are all on my list, so check out the Calendar page for details!

You’re invited (heck, the whole world’s invited) to join me as I celebrate the release of my new CD, “When I Was Your Age…” on Sunday, November 25th inside Threadgill’s World Headquarters on Riverside Drive in Austin, Texas. I’ve assembled some talented friends to help me play songs from the CD, and of course there’ll be copies for you to purchase at a special CD release party price (can you say holiday gifts?). We’ll start up at the very reasonable hour of 8PM, and then at 9 or so I’ll accompany talented guitarist and singer John Inmon as he plays a set of his own stuff. So please come on out.

And if for some reason you can’t make it down (California’s too far?) you can watch the festivities streaming live at www.threadgills.tv (and if you miss that, it will be archived there, available for viewing, for eternity)

You can also hear me yak and perform some of the new songs live on KOOP radio (91.7 fm, www.koop.org )10AM Tuesday, and KDRP radio(100.1 fm, www.kdrplive.org ) 9AM Friday. Wow. Media blitz. Thanks for listening!

It's time once again to celebrate the music of Gram Parsons at the 6th Annual Gram Parsons Birthday Hoot.

On November 5th at Threadgill’s World Headquarters in Austin, Texas, an impressive collection of performers will gather from 7 to 10:30PM to celebrate the music of Gram Parsons, benefiting the Americana Music Association and the Gram Parsons Foundation.

Host Patterson Barrett will lead the house band, as invited guest artists perform their favorite Gram Parson’s songs in this annual musical homage to the man whose influence on the artists and music of today’s Americana movement is still felt today. This is not only a night for Parson’s fans to remember, but an opportunity for those not familiar with his music to hear and enjoy it for the first time.

This year’s event will benefit the Americana Music Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the genre of music that Parsons helped define, and the Gram Parsons Foundation.

As anyone who has attended previous shows will attest, this evening promises to be a wonderful time for all, filled with great music and memorable performances.

And what a week it was. I went with only with the intention of yakking to folks about the upcoming CD and seeing friends and peers. I ended up Driving Miss Anna (Egge), who found me while looking for the bus into town from the airport. We discovered we had many mutual friends and musical collaborators, were introduced to some new ones, and heard some great music.

Then I got a phone call from Jim Lauderdale asking if I'd like to play with him and the North Mississippi All Stars for his showcase. Well, yeah! It turned out to be a great gig, with legendary Muscle Shoals musician and producer David Hood on bass and a killer horn section. We played songs from an as yet unreleased CD Jim recorded with the N. MS. All Stars with lyrics by frequent Grateful Dead contributor Robert Hunter; really cool.

With lots of wonderful music in between, I finished out my time in Nashville by recording a segment for the new Buddy & Jim Radio Show on Outlaw Country. I'll let you know when it will air, sometime in October.

Whew— now to the business of releasing a CD, "When I Was Your Age..." out October 2nd. See you soon!

Now that my little European performing vacation is over, it's time to get down to the work of releasing a new CD.

"When I Was Your Age..." drops October 2nd, (my mother's birthday). An early review observes "...a rocked up down home session...loaded with solid songwriting that really caries the day." — Chris Spector, Midwest Record

I'll be doing what I can to spread the word. Listen to the lead-off track Come Back To Me and marvel at the timeless pipes of guest vocalist Bonnie Bramlett— that's right, the Bonnie of Delaney and Bonnie and friends, vocal contributor to your favorite Little Feat classics!

Keep an eye out for it; I'll post again soon to tell you where to find it!

Who knew? Apparrently, there is a rabid audience of Europeans for Rodeo and Country Music, and thanks to my friend Steve Carter ("You're going to like me a lot more after this") I'm headed to the south of France to participate. It's called Equiblues, and it runs from August 15th-19th. I'll be part of The Austin Country All-Stars, the brainchild of the aforementioned Mr. Carter, who sold the promoter on the concept of a band that faithfully performs vintage #1 country hits. The band includes me, Steve, Leeann Atherton, Cam King, Richard White and Emerson Wells-Barrett.

Well, summer's almost here, and here I am in Austin trying to keep the grass alive and looking ahead to the release of a new CD (sometime near the end of summer/beginning of fall). Titled "When I Was Your Age..." it features songs inspired in one way or another by watching my son Emerson turn the corner from teen to young adult. Sure, that sounds like a lot of boring personal stuff, but the songs are actually written around some pretty universal themes. But soon you'll be able to decide for yourself. I'll post some tracks on the site when I get a little closer to the release date. In the meantime, I've been doing a bunch of the new songs at my live shows, so come on out and have a little preview—you'll likely see and hear Emerson too, he's been playing with me whenever he can!

Well I can hardly articulate how fantastically fun the International Folk Alliance Conference was. I played my own showcase (with my son Emerson at my side on the mandolin), played with many talented friends, and saw so many impressive artists doing amazing things that it made my head spin!

This was Emerson's first trip to FA, and it was pretty cool to hang with him and introduce him to some great somewhat unknowns. He and I particularly enjoyed hearing Mike Farris's sensationally soulfull singing, 21 year old Anthony Dacosta's immediately engaging songs and performances, the writing and delivery of old-soul-in-a-20 something John Fullbright, to name only a few.

I gave a workshop/presentation called "De-mystifying the Pedal Steel Guitar", and was delighted to see such a good turnout of seekers of pedal steel knowledge. It's always a kick to see the looks on folks faces when they start to understand just what the heck is going on with that fascinating instrument.

And now we look forward to...SXSW. I'll be playing several show of my own, and playing along with many others through that week: Walt Wilkins, John Inmon, Ramsay Midwood, Jeff Talmadge, Matt Harlan, Freddie Krc, Emily Grace Berry...have I left anyone out? I'm attempting to update the calendar section of this, the new and improved version of pattersonbarrett.com, so come back often to see whats happening when, and thanks for stopping by!